Paul Logue (Eden's Curse)

posted 7 Oct 2013, 10:24 by Paul Woodward

Hi Paul, I hope your well! Eden’s Curse are about to
unleash their fourth album ‘Symphony Of Sin’. There has been many changes and a
shit load of turmoil surrounding the Curse since your last album, so what can
fans expect from the latest Curse opus?

“Hi Woody, I'm well thanks
buddy. We are very pleased with it and I know it sounds so cliched, but we
really feel this is our best work yet. The buzz within the band itself has been
quite unlike any record we have made before. I think we have grown as a band
and we are very comfortable with what we do now. I think the album sounds like
classic Eden's Curse but with an obvious new flavour that no-one has ever
tasted before. It's fresh, it's vibrant, it's exciting and it's 100% us.”

Did you ever consider changing the name of the band
after co-founder Michael Eden left the band? He was of course a big part of the
band and played a vital role in song writing and the sound of the Curse
overall. Given his outspoken nature, and he has been very vocal since his
departure, did you ever think the easiest thing to do would be to continue
under a different name?
“Actually, on the contrary, Michael never wrote a single original song idea
from scratch in the whole time he was in Eden's Curse. These were all my songs
that I had written myself or worked with Pete or Thorsten on. He would maybe
change a word here and there in general. His voice obviously was a big part of
the sound just as Thorsten's guitars sound is. But, as for changing the name,
absolutely not! Eden isn't his real name anyway - it's Michael Brobeck and he
was previously known as Michael St. Allen in an old band. He created his “stage
name” after we gave the band its name. When he quit, on his own accord, the remaining members discussed it for like ten seconds ...
"Do we carry on"? We unanimously agreed that we had come too far and
had too much left to say and achieve before throwing in the towel. It was his
decision to leave not ours. We asked him to stay and he refused. So rolling
over and dying or starting from scratch again was just simply not a choice for
us. It worked for Iron Maiden when Dianno left and there is a reason for that.”

You have a new vocalist Serbian Nikola Mijic, who has
a very different style to his predecessor, how did you find him and why did you
decide to bring him into the band?

“When we parted company with Marco Sandron (our 2nd
vocalist) we decided to hold some public online auditions, similar to what
Dragonforce did, and even though the quality received was very high indeed, we
were looking for that certain "je ne sais quoi". I was researching on
the internet through various media streams and happened to be browsing on the
website of Lion Music, who have some killer bands. I came across Dreyelands and
liked what I heard from their singer. I jumped to Facebook to see if he had a
profile and lo and behold, he did. I reached out to Nikola and invited him to
audition, which he did. We worked on several older Eden's Curse songs before
giving him a brand new tune, which grew into 'Evil & Divine'. His
versatility as a vocalist is immense – he can sing anything – from the lighter
Journey type stuff to the Prog Metal of Symphony X. We invited him because
primarily he is a fantastic singer, but more importantly a lovely guy who
really fits with what this band is all about.”

I had thought you may have looked for a replacement in
the UK, as the multi-national nature of the band has seemed to hinder the band
in the past, so I thought a UK vocalist may have solved some issues. Did you
ever consider this when looking for a vocalist and were there any UK vocalists
in the running?

“I wouldn't say hinder. We
have played 18 shows in the UK, which is more than some bands based in this
country. However, yes, finding a UK based vocalist was top of our list and we
auditioned many of them. Even though some of the auditions were very good it wasn't
quite what we were looking for. So, no, we did not progress with any UK based
singers beyond their initial auditions.”

You have also parted company with uber-talented
keyboard god Alessandro Del Vecchio; this is of course an amicable decision
with Ale been so damn busy with various projects and studio work at the moment.
Do you miss him been part of the band and correct me if I’m wrong but he did
play on ‘Symphony of Sin’?

“Alessandro's
is a success story to be celebrated as he had become so busy with his career as
a mixing engineer. He said to us, "Guys, you deserve to have someone who
can focus all of their time on Eden's Curse". In all honesty, we expected
it, as we could see it coming; and for him, his dreams have come true, so we
couldn't be happier for him. Alessandro was very much loved in the band, and
his talent is there for all to see. We wished him all the luck in the world and
parted on great terms, and in fact he actually recommended we talk to Steve
Williams, as his band Power Quest had just called it a day. No, he did not play
on the album. It is all Steve.”

Yes; you have hooked up with another amazing keyboard
player, as you say, in Steve Williams who most people will know for the mighty
PowerQuest. He definitely has the right background to fit nicely into the Curse
fold, how did you get Steve in the band?

“Steve had actually
auditioned for the band back in 2009 when Ferdy Doernberg left (after the
second album), and was only beaten by Alessandro and his magnificent voice. We
have remained good friends since and have used each other as a sounding board
on manymatters as our bands turned in
the same circles, so our relationship grew from there. It was a very natural
decision to ask Steve as he is a great player, songwriter and person. Once he
heard the new demos it was a no brainer to him and he has walked in and fit
like a glove, because he is so affable and 100% a team player.”

And as a massive fan of his keyboard heavy song
writing will he be involved in the song writing in the future?
“Absolutely. Eden's Curse is very much a team effort and writing is open to
all. I'm a big fan of Steve's writing too and I'm genuinely excited to see what
we can produce together.”

Listening to ‘Symphony Of Sin’ I really do think I’m
listening to a different band, I think it’s a tad more commercial than in the
past, which is why I find Steve joining the band ironic because PowerQuest were
famous for been ultra-melodic for a power metal band. What has the song process
been like this time? Was the feel and change I’m hearing intentional?

“Well, Steve joined too to be
involved in the writing, so all the songs were written by myself, Pete and
Thorsten. “Trinity” was such a big album for us, so we had to make sure that
this one too was a complete knock out and we deliberately pushed ourselves and
each other harder during the writing sessions. Thorsten, myself and Pete
wouldn't accept the first idea that came forward if any one of us thought that
the idea could be bettered in any way. We went back to the drawing board
multiple times on each of these songs and it really shows in my opinion. This
also demonstrates how comfortable we are working with each other, because we
would not let personal gain get in the way of "the song". We would
only say "done" when everyone was truly happy with every part, thus
enabling us to write the best batch of songs that we could.”

I adore ‘Unbreakable’ probably the most commercial thing
the Curse has ever recorded. Listening to the lyrics I can’t help feeling this
song is about the changes and turmoil faced by the band in recent times, am I
looking too deeply into it or coming to the wrong conclusion?

“Thanks and you are
absolutely correct! It's a song that holds a special place in my heart and I
think it really has some cross over potential. “Unbreakable” started as a musical idea from
Thorsten which I chopped up with him to create the arrangement you hear today,
and then I began working on the lyrics and vocal melodies alongside Pete. It's
a song that really came from the heart and speaks of the brotherly bond that
existed between the three of us, and Alessandro at the time. It really is a
song of positivity and rising above the negativity and adversity and keeping
your spirit and vision strong to focus on that better day that will eventually
come. I don't mind admitting that when I received the final mix from Dennis
Ward I wept with joy. It was the culmination of two years of sheer hard times
and work, summed up in a five minute melodic moment, swept away in the emotions.”

Can you talk us through some of the other songs on
‘Symphony of Sin’? Are there any stories or meanings behind the songs fans
would like to hear?

“When writing the title track the news was littered
with stories of child abduction, murders, terrorist attacks and the London
riots, which saw everyday people looting shops, simply because they could. It
got me questioning, as a parent and someone with moral standards, what kind of
a world we live in today. This tidal wave of bad behaviour, “want it now”
culture and the obsession with becoming famous to me is like a wall of sinful
noise. I switched around noise to symphony.”

“Break The Silence is an‘ancient
times’ tale about
an idiot King surrounded by idiot advisors who eventually lost everything that
he had through poor choices and chasing the glory...”

“Evil & Divine” is a story based upon the tale of
the watchers - a group of rebellious angels who watched over the human race.
They fell in love with becoming human and decided to leave heaven and come to
earth. They began partnering humans and sharing knowledge that the human race
should discover over years ... ultimately leading to trouble. We made a cool
video for this - (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z24MmgWVQXk).”

“Fallen From Grace” was inspired by the fall of one
of my heroes; there is a clue in the lyrics if you look close enough, but I'll
leave it there.”

“Losing My Faith” is is written about the City of
Juarez in Mexico - the city of the dead. Drug gangs control the streets and
there are multiple murders every single day, yet no one says a thing. It's
questioning someone's faith in such circumstances and is them asking God
"Did you abandon me, what did you do to me"? I wrote this after
watching‘Ross Kemp On Gangs In Mexico‘ and
there were around 40 odd murders whilst he was there. It struck me how cheap
the price of life was viewed.”

“Rock Bottom” is about the end of a
relationship and it has some personal meaning to one of the band members. It's
a song that everyone can relate to.”

“Great Unknown” is a look at my philosophy in
life. There is no compensation in playing it safe, so take a risk now and again.Have belief and faith in what you do in then
you can cultivate the ability to succeed. If you have a vision, and I mean a
real vision, then you have the catalysts. Go ahead and be the artist on your
own canvas ... no magic hand is gonna appear out of thin air and paint it for
you.”

“Turn The Page” is about moving on. As the song
says "We forgive and forget". Too much energy is wasted on negative
thoughts and acts of vengeance, why? Being an adult is about understanding that
when you take action there is usually an outcome to that. Stand by the
decisions you make and be happy about them, but let others be happy too. Life
doesn't work out for various reasons, so what. Turn the page and let it go.”

“Sign Of The Cross”. I originally wrote this for David
Readman‘s (Pink Cream 69) solo album and every album the guys have asked me to
record it. But for some reason I fell out of love with it. This time it was
right. Lyrically, it's actually about a Papal Conclave and the responsibility
on the shoulders of the person who is successful in being chosen.”

“Wings To Fly” is a song of hope and about
moving forward with positivity. Everyone has the power to unleash their true
potential and it's all about finding out how to tap into that. I originally
intended to submit this song for the new Place Vendome album, but when I heard
it I thought, “No Way, I'm keeping this.”

“Devil In Disguise” is an old testament tale of the
whore of Babylon. It's something I fell across when researching subjects to
right about and it inspired me.”

“And finally, “Where Is The
Love?”This is similar to
“Symphony Of Sin” in a
way, as it's an observation on the world we live in today. Where is the love
nowadays? Where is that human decency of helping those that need to be helped?
Everyone is so wrapped up in self gratification that it's cultivating a
generation who don't know what it means to hold their hand out to someone who
needs it.”

You are of course performing at Firefest in October, what
should people expect from that Eden’s Curse show?

“Firefest will be a big party atmosphere
and a chance for a good sing along, so we will be playing songs from all four
Eden's Curse albums, especially our most popular tunes. And we will also
perform three tracks from "Symphony Of Sin" with maybe a little
surprise thrown in for good measure!”

Do you plan to tour this album after that? And do you
have any live dates or Festivals lined up that you can tell us about?

“Yes, but nothing lined up
yet. We are just starting discussions with our Management and some booking
agents to plan tour dates in the UK and Europe for 2014. We ideally want to do
a club headline tour in the UK for sure and will be reaching out to the major
summer festivals. We can't wait to get back out on the road with the new
material and that is really the big aim this year, to get out and play. We want
to make an impact on the live scene, and now we are all based in Europe there
is no excuse now.”

Is there anything else you would like to add or say to
the Midlands Rocks readers?

“Thanks to
all our fans who‘ve stuck by us knowing that one day we would rise again. It
has been a difficult couple of years for Eden's Curse but I can assure you that
we are back bigger and better than ever before. We stand here united, together
as one, and we are UNBREAKABLE! See you all on the road in 2014!!!”